Cement floor, maybe?

[O.Wendell Douglas]

We're building our coop from salvage, and it's coming along okay. I've read all the posts on sand versus shavings, etc...but I wonder about a cement floor underneath it all. I want to be predator wary, of course, and it seems cement would shut them out entirely.

Any drawbacks to a cement floor? Any recommendations? If I could afford it, would it be good to get the electric mesh to embed in the floor for cold Kansas winters, or is that just crazy over the top?

I'm thinking if I pour it right, such a floor could just be hosed out and squee-geed once in a while, right?

Thanks in advance for input.

 

[7L Farm]

I guess you could use cement. I wouldn't because chickens like to scratch & peck that's all they do. If your worried about predators which you should. I would put an apron around your coop and run. Here's mine.

 

[ima57boomer]

I think a cement floor would be fabulous. You'd put shavings or straw over it, of course, but for cleaning, how convenient. I wish I had an old patio base or old separate garage pad I could use. You're lucky if you already have that. Yes, I do think the electric heat in the floor is over the top. I live in Illinois, and from what I've read, the chickens will be fine as long as they can stay out of the wind. Cold and dry is okay. Cold and wet, not so much.

 

[patandchickens]

Any drawbacks to a cement floor? Any recommendations?

Drawback -- price and/or labor!

Advantages -- everything else

Completely predatorproof and as long as it's intact it's also rodentproof. Mudproof unless you get serious flooding. In a large insulated coop, will help keep coop a bit warmer for at least the early part of winter, unless coop is totally open-air. Easy to clean, stays level. Sixty-seven thumbs up. Do make sure to SEAL the slab before use.

(concrete is not a good plan for the run, however, unless you have one of a few very specific situations. You can live with a concrete run (some of mine are, b/c of preexisting slab) by making sure it always has a good depth of stuff atop it, but I wouldn't do it on purpose except in rare cases.

If I could afford it, would it be good to get the electric mesh to embed in the floor for cold Kansas winters, or is that just crazy over the top?

Crazy over-the-top and actually rather useless because in-floor radiant heating requires you to have no meaningful insulator (carpets etc) on the floor, and your coop floor will always be covered with at least several inches of very-insulating bedding. So, utter waste of money, don't do it

I'm thinking if I pour it right, such a floor could just be hosed out and squee-geed once in a while, right?

I suppose, but why? If you ahve sufficient bedding it will stay clean, really it will (some of my pens have concrete floor). Hosing just invites rot, as you will not be able to keep the floor-wall joint SO perfectly caulked that no water gets in there. I mean you can do it if you want but I don't personally think it's either a good idea OR necessary

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​

 

[msrma7670]

I have had chickens for a while now and I was thinking about cement also but placing pvc drain pipe in to drain excess water after shovelen the poo. The wood will root fast if you let it get wet. I figure using cement bricks for the first 2 ft high then go to wood with a splash board around the wood base to protect the wood. Maybe a bit much but i have had critters several times destroy my intire flock that aint fun to deal with. The runs still dirt to play in. just a thought about all this.

 

[bryan99705]

Heated concrete floor is nice but a bit excessive and expensive to operate but birds would love it. Be sure to have a drain for wash downs. (maybe even set it up so the waterer sits over it for spillage control. It will give you excellent predator control especially if you can set the wire into the concrete when it's poured. You would need to insulate it and have the expense of buying straw when all the do is walk thru it and poo on it.

A framed in AWW base with pea gravel or coarse sand may be just as good and allow you to go with a bigger structure. (Bigger structure = more room = MORE BIRDS

)

In your part of the world cold (only ambient temp matters, not windchill) is not a major issue but the drafts and ventilation are.

 

[otowner98]

I just moved my chickens into my renovated former shed, turned coop, this morning. The whole thing sits on a cement slab, and I covered that with pine shavings (will be adding more tomorrow, as it has a few bare patches. They seem very happy, and I noticed them clearing away some of the shavings to lay on the cement, which is probably because it was about 95 here today. Hoping that same "cool" property doesn't come back to haunt me in the winter, though.

 

[Spitman]

I'm a concrete man and I poured mine with some extra mud from a job close to home it is awesome I put a drain in it ,and covered walls with washable Masonite so I can just power wash it clean . The chickens love it and I use about 6 inches of pine chips , rake it about once a week and replace about every 4 months , right to the compost. It's really the best for cleaning and replacing the litter it dosnt get any better . The chips insulate, also my coop is insulated , so with just 1 red 250 heat bulb on the coldest nights last winter my coop never got below 32deg my coop is 12 ft x 8 ft. Point is I almost put heat mesh in mine just for the piece of mind , and I would have if I had enough laying around . But if you insulate and use plenty of litter the concrete will hold and help maintain the temp in coop.

Have fun

 

[ccar2000]

I have a concrete pad floor in my coop area and it is great! Easy to clean. In my area I just use a couple of reptile ceramc heaters connected to a thermostat to keep the coop above freezing in the wintertime.

 

[O.Wendell Douglas]

THANKS everyone, for the feedback. I had not thought of the thermal properties. My coop is barn tin down low, so I might be able to spray w/o worrying about wetness/rot. My nesting boxes are largely to be plastic, again for easy spraying/cleaning. (Wish I had that extra load of mud, Spitman!)